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Electoral roll annual canvass is underway

Posted by Kelly Luff in Electoral Roll on 3 December 2014 - Kelly is a Marketing Executive at checkmyfile

It’s that time of year again (and no, I’m not talking about Christmas) - the Electoral Roll Annual Canvass is underway. Whilst it can take up to three months for electoral roll listings to be reflected by the credit referencing agencies at any other time of the year, during the latter part of each year it can take longer to show this information on your credit report, due to the Annual Canvass.

Each year we receive queries about why, even though you may have added your name to the electoral roll during September-December, it is not reflected on credit reports for several months. This is due to local councils collecting all electoral listing data and publishing the Annual Canvass on the 1st December each year. Once this has been collated by the councils and published it is then purchased by the credit referencing agencies.

Due to the publishing of the Canvass, people added to the electoral roll listing by their council after September each year often find that their details are not updated automatically with the agencies. Instead the local authorities will add their details to the Annual Canvass, to update it later that year.

Being added to the Electoral Roll for the first time at an address during this period can cause issues but it can also be a problem for those who have been at the same address for several years. For those checking their credit report and wondering why they have been added as a ‘previous occupant’ with one of the agencies this is purely down to the updates being made by the credit referencing agencies. Please be assured that this is only temporary, while the Annual Canvass is completed, and that the ‘previous’ nature should be amended once everything is updated in the new year.

If you are applying for credit at this time and your electoral roll status is not correctly being reflected lenders can check other information held on your credit report, such as where your credit accounts are held. Lenders are aware of the issues surrounding the Annual Canvass at this time of year and therefore will take other information into consideration when assessing a credit application.

Unfortunately the credit referencing agencies do not accept manual updates to the Electoral Roll listing at this time of year, while they perform updates, but do advise us that it usually takes a month or two for all Annual Canvass data to be inputted and updated. As soon as your Electoral Roll inclusion is reflected with the agencies it will be reported on your next update with Check My File.

For more information as to why it is important to check your electoral listing click here

Few things in adult life are more stressful than moving house. The planning, the packing and of course the last-minute panicking about paperwork. Even once you’re in, mountains are quickly made from molehills and before you know it, you’ve lost those tiny keys for the windows – never to be seen again.

Find out if you're on the 2019 Electoral Roll

In addition to providing the ability to vote, being registered on the Electoral Roll (sometimes called the Electoral Register) is of vital importance when it comes to your Credit Rating and your chances of success with lenders. Your Electoral Roll listing is often considered an essential piece of information to lenders and therefore plays a key role in establishing a strong Credit Rating.

Your Electoral Roll entry is one of the most important elements of your credit file. Lenders place a lot of weight in the presence of an active Electoral Roll listing and can decline applications solely on the absence of this information if it is not returned on a credit search.

I doubt that I’m the only person to feel that the news surrounding the EU Referendum is overwhelming, confusing and more than a little biased. But whilst you try to make up your mind about whether to stay in or leave the EU, there is one thing that is certain – you’ll need to be registered to vote at your home address.

Research undertaken by credit provider Aqua found that only one in five adults between the age of 18 and 24 are registered on the Electoral Roll. More worryingly, they also found that none of those surveyed believed that the absence of this listing could impact a credit application.

The Electoral Commission have released figures detailing a fall of 920,000 registrations in the past year. The 2% reduction in the voter registration occurred between March and December 2014, which critics have blamed on the ways in which people are now able to register, as old systems have either been restricted or replaced entirely.

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